By Hakim Joe 

Israel is a nation of Jews. Israel attacked and seized a Gaza-bound vessel in international waters carrying humanitarian supplies early on Monday morning. Israeli armed soldiers killed nine civilians on the boat. 

So, tell me, is the entire Israel at fault, or are the Israeli leaders solely to be blamed or are all Jews to be blamed as well?

Let me rephrase it in another context. When Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva ordered armed Special Forces into the Red Shirts camps, and the Men-in-Black retaliated by shooting back, who is to be blamed? Is the entire Thailand at fault, or are the Thai leaders solely to be blamed or are all Thais everywhere to be blamed as well? 

Okay, atrocious example but you get the meaning here. 

The vessel was entering a “war zone” ala “running the blockade”. Granted that shooting at civilians was way overboard but the passengers on the vessel knew very well what it was getting into. The Israeli armed forces have shown less compunction to shoot in less threatening situations and the captain of the vessel knew very well that he had it coming from a mile away. That he went ahead with it meant that he was provoking the situation and the trigger-happy Israeli soldiers were more than happy to comply, or the captain of the vessel has been watching too many Pirates of the Caribbean reruns on television. 

Malaysians are prepared to go on a demonstration to show anger and to condemn Israel on this latest fiasco. The local newspapers are denouncing the Israeli state on their front pages. Alternate news websites are linking Umno to the Israelis. APCO targets Anwar. Pakatan targets APCO. Fat Momma still wants to be Queen of a country that will go bankrupt within 9 years. 

Do you people really think that this is actually the crux of the matter here? 

What a lot of Malaysians do not seem to realize is that this could be the purveyor to far more deadly consequences. The United States of America has always been on the side of Israel as its backer and protector. They have also armed the Israelis to the hilt with modern American weapons and staffed them with American “consultants” on site in Israel. This is about the only thing that has stopped them from openly declaring war with Iran. Why have the world’s fifth largest armed forces equipped with nuclear weapons when you can’t use it? 

Now, supposedly the US President officially condemns Israel on this latest disaster. This would probably be a cosmetic action to pacify the Arabs in Middle East. What if the US President takes it one step further and applies sanctions against Israel? This is not something that is impossible as the US voted in a black-assed loony this time around. (How else do you explain his “silence” in Sodomy II?) 

If the US gets tough with Israel this time, it will exhibit a perception to the Israeli government that the US is no longer supportive of their actions, and the proverbial shit will definitely hit the bloody fan. The State of Israel currently has three submarines with nuclear warheads aimed at Iran. In return, only Muslim-Pakistan has the same deadly inventory. Iran has got jack shit (unless their nuclear program is exactly like what Israel is saying). India will probably stay on the sidelines hoarding their nuclear missiles.  

And why would Pakistan want to get involved? One, Islamabad does not possess any diplomatic relations with Israel. Two, there were three Pakistanis on the Mavi Marmara. Three, Pakistan is a Muslim country and Israel is a Jewish state. Four, Afghan politics influence Pakistani sentiments.  

"If Obama decides it is in America's interest to make an example of Israel after the Gaza flotilla incident in order to win goodwill in Cairo, Beirut, Tehran and Ankara," warned Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, "then he must also recognize that the leadership in Jerusalem is going to conclude that it cannot trust the United States to safeguard its security, and that therefore it must take matters into its own hands on any number of issues, not the least of which is Iran's nuclear program." 

If those words sound alarming, read the next paragraph.

”In effect, if the White House decides to come down hard on Israel now," he added in National Review Online, "it is the same as giving a green light for Israel to strike Iran." (Tehran is 1,569km from Jerusalem and a hypersonic cruise missile travels at a speed of 5,700km per hour.) 

Rational heads have prevailed when Ronen Bergman of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper (Ynet News) argued that the operation itself was "irresponsible" and evidence that a "siege mentality" - based on the belief that world opinion is irreversibly hostile to the Jewish state - had taken hold of the country and its governing elite. Citing Iran's nuclear program, Bergman argued that such an "unhealthy mindset" was "profoundly disturbing when the fatigued and isolated country itself has the means to strike pre-emptively and punishingly at its enemies, including in ways from which, realistically, there may be no return." 

Boom … we have a raging war in the Middle East and this will not only be a purely conventional war but one in which nuclear weapons will most probably be utilized. (Petronas will make a fortune though … but the Najib administration will still find ways to cut the fuel subsidies.) Once the missiles leave their silos, there is no calling them back …. 

So, you all still think that this is but an unrelated incident that can be sorted out by mere demonstrations and newspaper headlines? Remember Archduke Franz Ferdinand?